NASAs Perseverance just carved a new scoop on Mars, one that could perhaps pave the way for astronauts to one day explore the Red Planet.
The rover has successfully used its MOXIE instrument to generate oxygen from the thin, carbon dioxide-dominated Martian atmosphere for the first time, demonstrating technology that can help astronauts breathe and propel the rockets that bring them home to Earth.
The MOXIE milestone took place on Tuesday (April 20), just one day after Perseverance was the first to watch over another epic Mars – the first Mars flight of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter, who rode on the robber’s belly to the Red Planet.
“This is a critical first step in converting carbon dioxide into oxygen on Mars,” Jim Reuter, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, said in a statement today (April 21). “MOXIE has more work to do, but the results of this technology demonstration are very promising as we reach our goal of one day seeing humans on Mars.”
In pictures: NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover mission to the Red Planet
Making Mars oxygen
The toaster-sized MOXIE (short for “Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment”) produces oxygen from carbon dioxide and emits carbon monoxide as a waste product. The conversion process takes place at temperatures around 1,470 degrees Fahrenheit (800 degrees Celsius), so MOXIE is made from heat-tolerant materials and has a thin gold coating to prevent potentially harmful heat from radiating out into Perseverance’s body.
The MOXIE team warmed up the instrument for two hours yesterday and then expelled oxygen for an hour. MOXIE produced 5.4 grams of oxygen during that period, about enough to allow an astronaut to breathe easily for 10 minutes, NASA officials said.
That first attempt didn’t maximize MOXIE; it can generate about 10 grams of oxygen per hour. The instrument could eventually reach such levels, as the team plans to do about nine more runs over the course of a Mars year (about 687 Earth days).
These trials will be grouped into three stages, NASA officials said. The first stage is to check and characterize the instrument, and the second stage assesses the performance of MOXIE in different atmospheric conditions. During the third and final phase, “we will shift the envelope,” MOXIE principal investigator Michael Hecht said in the same statement.
Pushing the boundaries will likely involve testing new operating modes or adding “new wrinkles, like a run where we compare operations at three or more different temperatures,” added Hecht, who is located at the Massachusetts Haystack Observatory. Institute of Technology.
MOXIE and the future of humanity on Mars
MOXIE itself cannot produce enough oxygen to make a difference to future exploration efforts. For example, launching four astronauts from the surface of Mars would require about 15,000 pounds. (7,000 kilograms) of rocket fuel and 55,000 lbs. (25,000 kg) of oxygen, NASA officials said. (Rocket fuel consists of fuel and an oxidant that aids in combustion.)
But much larger MOXIE successors could potentially be great explorations, allowing Mars astronauts. “live off the landRather than relying on expensive and erratic supplies of the Earth, agency officials have said.
Perseverance hit the 28-mile-wide Jezero crater on February 18, charged with looking for signs of ancient times. Mars life and collecting samples for future return to Earth. The rover will be able to fully focus on those core tasks in about two weeks, when Ingenuity’s month-long flight window comes to an end.
And MOXIE will continue to do its thing in the background, occasionally pumping tiny puffs of carbon monoxide into the dusty Martian air to animate the six-wheeled robot’s considerable work.
Mike Wall is the author of “Outside(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the quest for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.